Valentine's Day is for Couples
by usakiwigirl
Summary: Ianto is horrified when Gwen starts planning a Valentine's Day meal for he and Jack. That's not what they are. He needs to talk to Jack and put a stop to this, now.


Written for Round 1 Challenge 2 of jack_ianto_las. The prompt was "Valentine's Day".

"Ianto! Luv, you there?" Gwen's voice echoed off the water tower as she entered the Hub. Her arms were overflowing with bags, as she struggled to make it up the stairs towards her desk without dropping anything. Seemingly disembodied arms snaked under the bags just as they started to fall, a voice following.

"You rang?" Ianto's face appeared from behind the bags as he set them gently down on her chair.

"Thanks, pet. I can juggle a 9mil with ease, but grocery bags? That's why I have Rhys."

"Lucky man." Ianto hated the pet names that Gwen had started tacking on to his, but since they'd lost Tosh and Owen, he knew she was feeling a little down. The instinct to mother _somebody_ was stronger than ever, and as Jack was immune to _that_ particular trait of hers, he'd been voted the unofficial recipient.

"Hmm." Gwen wasn't really paying attention to him, instead rooting through the bags and pulling items out like a child with a never-ending gift bag at Christmas. Chocolate, champagne, packets of hideous red and pink hearts, various easy-to-cook pasta dishes and desserts, followed by an assortment of movies and cd's, with a few old lp's thrown in for good measure, soon littered her desk. Ianto watched, bemused, as she muttered under her breathe.

"I think the mushroom risotto… yes, shouldn't be too hard, he can take it off the burner if needed… followed by chocolate mousse. That can be made ahead and left in the fridge, and the champagne too. Umm… coffee… chocolate… well, one's not my problem and these are the best out there."

"What, exactly, are you planning to do to poor Rhys?"

"What? Oh, no, this isn't for me and Rhys. We're going out to dinner. Rhys booked us in weeks ago. No, this is for you and Jack."

"Beg pardon?" He couldn't have heard that right. She was planning a dinner - a _nice_ dinner - for Jack and himself. For Valentine's Day, if what he was looking at was any indication. How the hell he was going to get them out of this, he wasn't quite sure.

"For Valentine's Day. You and Jack never do anything romantic and this is one chance to show each other how much you care. Don't worry about it, Ianto, I've got it all planned out." She reached out and patted his cheek, just a little condescendingly, as she gathered together her chosen items and disappeared towards the kitchen.

"Fuck." This had all the earmarks of a National Disaster, quite possibly even one that could bring about the End of the World. He needed to talk to Jack.

Ianto paced Jack's office in tight circles. He'd ta ken his concerns to Jack in a bid to have him talk Gwen out of her mad idea, but had been completely wrong-footed when Jack had simply said no.

"I asked Gwen to do it."

"You what? Are you completely mad? We don't do that shit, Jack! That's…" He didn't really know what to say. Happy, fluffy - girly, couply - things like this just weren't a part of their relationship - or whatever the hell it was. They were more about rough-and-ready, seat-of-your-pants, wild times. Hot, frantic sex after a mad chase through town following Weevils and Blowfish. Quickies in the Archives. Sure, they spent their lazy days in bed like any other - whatever - but they weren't domestic, not really. Jack didn't spend every night at his flat, nor did he spend every night here at the Hub.

Except - they did. Spend every night together. _When did that happen?_ Jack had clothing folded in drawers, and hung in the wardrobe at Ianto's flat. He knew where dishes were kept and how the dishwasher _had_ to be loaded. He had a toothbrush on the edge of the sink and an entire shelf in the medicine cabinet devoted to hair care products. He knew where the clean towels were, and how the corners of the sheets were folded when the linen was changed.

Conversely, Ianto had half of his clothing stored in Jack's wardrobe beneath his office. His shaving gear, toothbrush and hair gel had their own shelf, along with his own towel hanging on the rack. When at the Hub, Jack would often rustle up a meal for him, as he would cook for Jack when they were at the flat. Movies were watched together, and favourite music was piped through whatever living space they occupied at the time.

So maybe, just maybe, the idea of a romantic Valentine's Day meal wasn't that far-fetched after all. Ianto knew, deep down, that some of his aversion to the whole notion centred on Lisa. He should be well past it now, it had been more than a year, but it dredged up memories of candlelit dinners, roses and champagne, not to mention the ring he'd never had the chance to give her. It wasn't fair to Jack to let her ghost come between them now, not when, if he was honest with himself, the idea of a romantic dinner with Jack gave him a case of the butterflies the likes of which he hadn't had in years.

He quit pacing, turning back to look at Jack with a small smile on his face. "Never mind. I was wrong. The dinner sounds wonderful."

Ianto resolved, as Jack leaned in to place a thankful kiss on his lips, to stop thinking of them as nothing more than a convenient (but fucking fantastic) shag, and acknowledge that they were more than he'd ever thought possible - together, partners, a _couple_. Valentine's Day would be just the beginning.

End.


End file.
